Durban - Just over two weeks before the country goes to the polls and as parties intensify their campaign blitz, the general secretary of the SACP, Dr Blade Nzimande, has called on his party's volunteers to ensure a maximum voter turnout on November 1.
Nzimande said in the wards where the ruling ANC tends to lose, it was not because they had failed but because of a lapse in ensuring a sizeable turnout that could be turned into victory.
Nzimande made the remarks on Friday at Mount Royal township in the north of Durban, where the party was on a door to door campaign blitz, mobilising supporters for its long time alliance partner, the ANC.
Accompanied by provincial leaders of the SACP like Themba Mthembu, Nzimande kicked off his campaign by addressing a socialist workers forum at a local school. From there he hit the road, moving from home to home, asking the people of the newly built and mixed-race settlement to trust the ANC once more by giving it five more years in the ward.
“What is important is ensuring a good voter turnout on (November)1, let us continue to mobilise the people,” Nzimande said in Zulu.
“What is paramount right now is mobilising our people because where we tend to lose, it is not because we don’t have the support, it is because we have failed to mobilise our supporters to go out and vote for the ANC. As you have already started mobilising, don’t lose the current momentum. On (November) 1, even everyone should go out and vote.”
Nzimande and SACP leaders were told by a resident, Bongiwe Ndlovu, how the infamous Phoenix police station had left her vulnerable to death by failing to arrest a young man who is engaged in a love triangle with her son (they are fighting over a woman).
Ndlovu said the troublesome man had vandalised her house, swearing at her and her son. When she reported the matter to the police station in Phoenix, the investigator let the perpetrator off the hook and her life and property were now in danger, she said.
Addressing the volunteers at the end of the campaign, Nzimande said often its was such matters that lead to gender-based violence and Ndlovu's case should be dealt with before it escalates further and results in loss of life.
He asked the local structure of the ANC to follow up on the matter and ensure that Ndlovu was safe and the alleged perpetrator is restrained.
Political Bureau